In the semiconductor packaging industry, and other industries requiring electrical interconnection, wire and ribbon bonding are widely adopted technologies. In connection with wire and ribbon bonding operations, various types of energy (e.g., ultrasonic energy, thermosonic energy, thermocompressive energy, etc.) are used to bond an end portion of wire/ribbon to a first bonding location. After a first bond is formed at the first bonding location, a length of wire/ribbon is extended to second bonding location, and then a second bond is formed at the second bonding location.
As opposed to conventional wire bonding (e.g., ball bonding and wedge bonding of a wire having a round cross section), ribbon bonding typically involves bonding a flexible conductive ribbon material (e.g., having a rectangular cross section) between bonding locations. Exemplary conductive materials used in ribbon bonding include aluminum (Al) ribbon material, copper (Cu) ribbon material, aluminum copper clad ribbon material (Al—Cu), amongst others. Exemplary ribbon bonding techniques, and packages including conductive ribbon, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,745,253, 8,685,789, and 8,685,791. Exemplary ribbon bonding tools are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,838,101 and 8,820,609.
A challenge in ribbon bonding is extending the usable life (e.g., in number of bonds) of a ribbon bonding tool. Extending the useful life of the tool is particularly challenging in applications involving Cu ribbon material, Al—Cu ribbon material, etc.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide improved ribbon bonding tools, and methods of designing ribbon bonding tools.